The new family radio service (FRS) is a portion of radio spectrum allotted by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and is intended to be used for narrow band frequency modulation (FM) two-way radio communication. The allotted frequencies in the FRS allow average consumers, buying the appropriate two-way radio products, to operate license free within this band. Consequently, this readily allows a consumer to purchase two or more FRS radios that can be easily used in various operating environments and conditions such during vacations, sporting events and/or emergencies.
While offering license free operation, the FCC has also mandated certain requirements for two-way radio manufacturers producing radio products for the FRS. Thus, this regulatory mandate had imposed requirements that were previously unnecessary on other consumer or industrial type two-way radio products. One such requirement pertains to the antenna used on the FRS two-way radio. Among other things, this requirement specifies that the antenna shall be incapable of being removed or changed by the operator. Therefore, in view of this new regulation, a novel and unique antenna attachment structure will be required. As is well know in the art, other commercially available two-way radio products most often include a removable antenna, generally with some type of threaded or twist-on attachment.
Additional considerations for the radio manufacturer also include low cost and ease of assembly. For low price consumer products made for the FRS, it is important to maintain low material and manufacturing costs. With this in mind, a number of antenna performance considerations are also at issue since there is an additional regulatory requirement that the maximum effective radiated power (ERP) of the FRS two-way radio not exceed one-half watt. This requires the antenna gain of the FRS antenna be very efficient with a minimum current drain on the on-board batteries. Moreover, two way radio antennas typically can be lossy in the ultra high frequency (UHF) range since they are often required to meet very stringent mechanical requirements. In general, these antennas will have no better than -6 dBi to -8 dBi gain.
For these reasons, there is a need for a new antenna assembly the can be used with FRS radios and other consumer two-way radio products that is not removable yet is easily to manufacture and assemble.